Every state in the country has its share of healthcare, government, education and service-related jobs. Most states, however, also have an occupation that is truly distinct and is found in greater abundance there than other states across the country.
That is the finding of a study conducted by Mental Floss and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl., a CareerBuilder company. Staff from the two entities took a deep dive into employment data from all 50 states looking at the location quotient (LQ) to measure job concentration.
The LQ essentially compares a state’s concentration of employment in a particular occupation to the overall national workforce in the same occupation. A LQ of 1.0 identifies occupations that have similar employment rates between a state and the nation. The higher the LQ, the more distinct an occupation is to that state.
The number of people employed in a field within a state isn’t necessarily as important as the concentration of people employed in that field when compared to the rest of the country.
Indiana, for example, has an estimated 2,686 boilermakers. They comprise only .09% of the state’s workforce of more than 3 million. Since one out of seven boilermakers nationwide is employed in Indiana, however, that occupation has a high LQ.
Here is a state-by-state look at the most unique jobs and the anticipated median hourly wage earned in the occupation, according to the study:
- Alabama – Tire builders, $24.55
- Alaska – Fishing-related workers, $16.85
- Arizona – Semiconductor processors, $15.32
- Arkansas – Food processing workers, $10.59
- California – Actors, $29.23
- Colorado – Atmospheric and space scientists, $49.34
- Connecticut – Actuaries, $51.22
- Washington, D.C. – Political scientists, $55.64
- Delaware – Chemists, $41.45
- Florida – Motorboat operators, $14.17
- Georgia – Textile winding, twisting and drawing out machine setters, operators and enders, $13.03
- Hawaii – Tour guides and escorts, $12.82
- Idaho – Forest and conservation technicians, $15.06
- Illinois – Correspondence clerks, $19.88
- Indiana – Boilermakers, $31.66
- Iowa – Soil and plant scientists, $30.05
- Kansas – Umpires, referees and other sports-related officials, $25.65
- Louisiana – Captains, mates and water vessel pilots, $34.88
- Maine – Fishers and related workers, $17.52
- Maryland – Subway and streetcar operators, $25.43
- Massachusetts – Psychiatric technicians, $17.52
- Michigan – Model makers, metal and plastics, $24.72
- Minnesota – Slaughterers and meat packers, $12.80
- Mississippi – Coil winders, tapers and finishers, $18.87
- Missouri – Food and tobacco roasting, baking and drying machine operators and tenders, $12.37
- Montana – Forest and conservation technicians, $15.05
- Nebraska – Meat, poultry and fish cutters and trimmers, $13.58
- Nevada – Gaming supervisors, $25.40
- New Hampshire – Metal workers and plastic workers, $14.40
- New Jersey – Biochemists and biophysicists, $50.38
- New Mexico – Wellhead pumpers, $22.50
- New York – Fashion designers, $32.27
- North Caroline – Textile winding, twisting and drawing out machine operators, $11.12
- North Dakota – Derrick operators, oil and gas, $26.65
- Ohio – Rolling machine setters, operators and tenders, $17.21
- Oklahoma – Wellhead pumpers, $20.51
- Oregon – Logging workers, $16.57
- Pennsylvania – Survey researchers, $13.09
- Rhode Island – Education, training and library workers, $20.42
- South Carolina – Textile knitting and weaving machine operators, $13.70
- South Dakota – Farmers, ranchers and agricultural managers, $12.78
- Tennessee – Conveyor operators and enders, $13.73
- Texas – Petroleum engineers, $66.80
- Utah – Forest and conservation technicians, $13.46
- Vermont – Highway maintenance, $16.88
- Virginia – Legal support workers, $43.50
- Washington – Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging and systems assemblers, $23.09
- West Virginia – Roof bolters, mining, $26.84
- Wisconsin – Foundry mold and coremakers, $15.72
- Wyoming– Rotary drill operators, oil and gas, $27.05
